The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of apple tree, botanically known as Malus domestica Borkh. of the Rosaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘RGLORS’.
The new Malus variety ‘RGLORS’ was discovered by the inventors, Gualtiero Mazzoni and Michelangelo Leis, in October of 2005 in a block of Malus domestica Borkh. apple trees designated ‘Rosy Glow’ (unpatented, described in U.S. Publication No.: 2004/0168235; also U.S. Plant patent application Ser. Nos. 10/160,991, 10/712,783, and 11/166,062 all now abandoned) growing in a cultivated area of an apple farm located in Migliaro, Ferrara, Italy. The new Malus variety ‘RGLORS’ originated as a naturally occurring sport mutation of a limb of one of the ‘Rosy Glow’ apple trees growing in the apple farm located in Migliaro, Ferrara, Italy. The new Malus ‘RGLORS’ was selected by the inventors based on the distinctly different fruit characteristics of ‘RGLORS’ (solid russet skin color, very crisp flesh, and sour-sweet flavor with a sweet aftertaste) from the fruit of ‘Rosy Glow’.
The new Malus ‘RGLORS’ was first selected for propagation and further testing by the inventors in 2005 in a controlled environment in Migliaro, Ferrara, Italy. Asexual reproduction of the new Malus variety ‘RGLORS’ by grafting and budding onto M9 rootstock (unpatented variety) was first performed in January of 2006 in an apple farm located in Migliaro, Ferrara, Italy, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.